There is an ongoing need for improvements in personal grooming and cosmetic care. In particular, it is highly desired to attach cosmetic hair to the human skin with good adhesion during use, while also being readily detached from the skin when desired.
Biomimetic microstructure adhesives (BMA) have been developed recently based on scientific research how animals such as geckos are able to climb up smooth vertical surfaces using adhesion forces generated by their toes. The mechanism of toe adhesion of geckos is attributed to the morphology of its unique toe hairs, called “seta”, in creating and releasing suction by the physical movements of the toes. Synthetic adhesives mimicking the natural seta have been developed, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,723 issued Mar. 14, 2006, to R. Full et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,439, issued Mar. 29, 2005, to R. Fearing et al. Various methods have also been developed to manipulate BMA adhesive structures for improved holding of a substrate to a support surface, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,026, issued Apr. 20, 2004, to M. Lent, and in U.S. Published Application 2005/0148984 of Lindsay et al, published Jul. 7, 2005.
However, the prior methods have not provided ways to employ BMA adhesives for holding an object to and easily releasing it from human skin through simple and convenient means. In particular, it would be desirable to use BMA adhesive to hold cosmetic hair in contact with the human scalp, yet be able to easily release the object from the skin without causing any discomfort or pain to the user.